In animal husbandry it is often desirable to immobilize a large domestic animal for operatory veterinary procedures of for post-operative care. In operatory veterinary procedures, the animal may be anesthetized by administration of a drug; however, for short non-invasive procedures, such as to X-ray the leg of an animal, or in longer procedures, such as post-operative recovery when it is desirable that the animal be maintained in a fixed position to permit healing and cure, the use of drugs and anesthetics is impractical.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,866 discloses method and apparatus for temporarily immobilizing a domestic animal without rendering the animal unconscious by passing a pulsed electric current through the animal's muscles to cause a state of tetany in the muscles while leaving the organs in a relaxed condition.
It has been suggested in treatment of large domestic animals to employ fluidized beds of solid particulate material for massage and thermal therapy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,530 discloses method and apparatus for equine therapy by immersing two legs of a horse in a fluidized bed of solid particles which may be heated or cooled for treatment of pain, blood flow insufficiency, and post-operative muscle, tendon, and nerve repair.
European Patent Application 332,242-A discloses the use of a fluidized bed of absorbing beads for abstracting moisture and fluid from various bodies, such as industrial and agricultural products, humans, and animals, wherein the fluidized beads of the bed are maintained at a relative degree of humidity and suitable temperature to abstract moisture from the bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,462 discloses apparatus for therapeutic massage of parts of the body of humans or animals utilizing a fluidized solids bed as a heat transfer medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,437 discloses method and apparatus for treating animals with pulsating electrical potential applied across electrodes placed on the animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,392 discloses apparatus for treating oedema of members of the body such as the leg of a human wherein the leg to be treated is introduced into a flexible bag and mercury introduced into space surrounding the bag. The fluidized bed surrounding the body member in the mercury is de-fluidized to form a solid molding around the leg and mercury during treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,606 discloses apparatus and method for cyclically forming a precisely contoured support for a patient requiring a fixed position, as for example, undergoing traction, by means of periodically fluidizing granular material disposed within a container which, upon successive fluidization, forms the contoured support to distribute pressure over a substantial portion of the body of a patient in avoidance of concentrated pressure on restricted areas thereof.